Double wire connector



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April 24, 1956 Filed Aug.A 6, 1952 nventor RAYMOND H BOARD/WAN Gttornegs 3 notches 69 to accommodate movement of the levers. Ears 70 are arranged on each of the levers to facilitate fingertip manipulation thereof. The levers provide readily accessible means for exing the spring arms to permit longitudinal adjustment of Wire 62Yrelative to arm 48 and to facilitate longitudinal movementof wire 64 in either direction relative to arm 50.

The aforedescribed connector unit is assembled with housing 12 by placing the same in one of the transverse cavities with channel 44 aligned with notch 22. In this position the channel 44 will also be aligned with the lower notch 24 (in Fig. l) adjacent the cavity, and the channel 46 will be aligned with the upper notch 2S. In the said assembled position of the connector 10 within the housing 12, the frame wall 38 is substantially ush with the face of housing wall 18 and frame wall 34 is disposed against the bottom of cavity 20. A rivet 72 is passed through suitable apertures in the clip web 52, frame wall 34 and bottom of the cavity to secure the connector 10 in assembled relation within the housing cavity.

The foregoing assemblage will accomodate conducting wire 62 from either direction, i. e. the wire can be inserted within connector channel 44 through notch 22` or notch 24 and the wire can be shifted in either longitudinal direction. Insertion and adjustment of the wire may be facilitated by pressing lever 66 so as to ex spring arm 48 and thereby shift the crimp 58 from engagement with the wire. The wire 64 is connected to the assemblage by inserting the same in channel 46 through housing notch 2S. While it is unnecessary to flex spring arm 50 to receive either a stranded or unitary wire within the channel, it is necessary to flex arm 50 before withdrawing the wire.

Accordingly, the assemblage described above provides quick detachable means for adjustably receiving and retaining a first conductor such as the wire 62 and quick detachable means for retaining a second conductor such as the wire 64.

The connector frame may be provided with a pair of posts 74 formed as downwardly and laterally extending legs on frame Wall 34. In the assemblage shown in Figs. l and 2 the legs extend through slots 76 inthe bottom of the housing cavity 20 so that the legs will be disposed in the hollow portion of the housing wherein elements (not shown) of a switch are disposed. Each of the slots 76 is provided with a sloped wall 78 to accommodate the legs in the lateral direction, but the opposite wall 80 of the slots is normal to the bottom of the housing cavity to prevent entry of the legs in the event an attempt should be made to improperly insert` the connector within the cavity. This last-mentioned feature of construction makes the proper manner of assembly self-evident to even the most unskilled of persons.

lt should be noted that the slots 76 are spaced apart at distances which vary from cavity to cavity in the housing 12 whereby the housing can accommodate a plurality of connectors, each having legs disposed within the hollow portion of the housing body in spaced relation to each other and spaced from the legs of the other connector units.

As previously mentioned, the assemblage described herein is particularly adapted to enclose elements of a switch for control for an electric range. A plurality of controls, as for various heating elements, the oven, etc., may be utilized in the installation whereby a plurality of the assemblages may be interconnected. Obviously, the

4 in most cases as to be selfevident to one untrained in th art. In addition, much of the difficulty encountered in attaching electrical wires to terminal posts or terminal housings is eliminated since, to effect such connection with the present device, it is only necessary to extend the wires into the connector units through notches provided on the terminal housings. Disconnection is expedited by the incorporation of the manually operable retaining arms, which have the actuating levers disposed for fingertip manipulation adjacent the Wires, whereby llexing of the arms may be easily accomplished to permit withdrawal of the wires from the connectors.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could -be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It` is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specil'lc features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be ysaid to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

l. A `quiclc detachable electrical connector. comprising an open ended frame provided with a longitudinally slottedfwall arranged to receive against its inner surface a longitudinally disposed conducting wire` on each side of said slot, a clamping member disposed within said frame and having a pair of spring arms extending inwardly into engagement at an acute angle with said wall on opposite sides ofV said slot, each of said arms being arranged to hold a wire `again-st said wall, an `integral manual operating lever on each arm extending from the side edge of the arm outwardly through said slot, and laterally bent ears on the outer ends of the levers forming nger pieces for l depressing the arms to release wires engaged thereby.

interconnection of the assemblages to a common busY can be easily effected by inserting the bus line (Wire 62) through the channels 44 in the connector unitsV disposedv in the respective assemblages.

In an interconnected arrangement of assemblages, the assemblages may be disposed in sideby-side relation, but regardless of the disposition or arrangement, the interconnecting `or wiring of `the assemblages is so simplified 2. A quick detach-able electrical connector comprising a generally rectangular open-ended frame provided with a longitudinally slotted wall, `said wall having inturned anges adjacent said slotdening a pair of longitudinal channels spaced on each side of the slot, Ia clamping member disposed within said frame having an inwardly bent `spring arm disposed at one end disposed in one of the channels "and aninwardly bent spring arm at the other end otset from the iirst-named arm land disposed in the other channel, said spring arms extending inwardly into engagement at an acuteangle with said wall and -arranged to hold a wire lagainst said wall, and a manually operable actuating lever integrally upstanding from each of said arms and extending outwardly through said slot for exing said arms further inwardly to release wires engaged thereby.

3. A quick detachable electrical connector comprising a generally rectangular open-ended frame provided with a longitudinally slotted wall, said wall having inturned flanges ladjacent said slot to define a pair of longitudinal channels spaced on each side of the slot, a clamping member disposed within said frame and having a spring arm transversely disposed in each of said channels, each of said spring arms extending from a bending point inwardly into engagement at an acute angle with said wall on opposite sides of said slot and each of said Iarms being arranged -to hold a longitudinally disposed conducting wire against said wall, one of said arms having a crimp for releasably retaining a conducting wire in adjusted positions and the other of said arms having a relatively sharp edge arranged to grip and hold a conducting wire against longitudinal movement in one direction, and a manually operable actuating lever integrally upstanding from each of said arms and extending through said slot engaged thereby.

4. An electrical .terminal assemblage comprising an housing having a pair of notches at one end of the `cavity and a single notch at the other end of the cavity, an openended frame disposed within said cavity and having an outwardly facing wall provided with a longitudinal slot, said wall being arranged to receive against its inner surface a conducting wire on each side of said slot, one of the conducting wires being insertable through one of said notches at said one end of the cavity or through the single notch Iat the other end of the cavity, and the other of the conducting wires being inserta-ble through the other of said notches at said one end'of the cavity, a lclamping member disposed within said frame and having a pair of spring arms engageable a-t an acute angle with said wall on opposite sides of said slot, each of said arms being arranged to hold a wire against ysaid wall, and 'a manually operable `actuating lever on each of said arms extending outwardly through said slot for ilexing said arms to release wires engaged thereby.

5. An electrical terminal lassemblage comprising an insulating housing having a generally rectangular cavity therein, said housing having a pair of notches a-t one end of the cavity and a single notch at the other end of the cavity and said housing having a plurality of slots at the bottom of said cavity, a generally rectangular open-ended connector frame having a pair of downwardly and laterally extending legs insertable within said slots when said conl nector frame is disposed within said cavity in one position, said connector frame being arranged to receive Ia first `conducting Wire extending through one of said pairof notches at one end of the cavity or through the notch in the other end of the cavity and a `second conducting wire extending through the other of -said pair of notches, and manually` operable clamping means associated with said connector frame having a pair of spring arms for releasahly clamping the wires received in the frame.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,531,816 Russell Mar. 3l, 1925 2,496,866 Flora Feb. 7, 1950 2,523,782 Sanda Sept. 26, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Y 211,884 Germany July 3, 1908 466,821 Great Britain June 7, 1937 

